NHS cosies up with Tinder to increase organ donor numbers
Celebrities help advertise organ donor drive on dating app
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The NHS is trying to encourage more people to become organ donors via dating app Tinder.
For the next fortnight, Tinder users under 35 years old who swipe on certain photos will be encouraged to become organ donors, after the number of UK donors fell for the first time in a decade this summer.
Celebrities including Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones MBE, Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing and Emmerdale actress Gemma Oaten have appeared on Tinder with profiles featuring a love heart logo called The Wait' to promote the donor drive.
Users whose profiles match with these celebrities will get a message reading: "If only it was that easy for those in need of a life-saving organ to find a match."
More young people are needed on the list, said the NHS, with the latest statistics showing that 7,000 people are waiting for a transplant in the UK.
Meanwhile, 6,000 people have died over the last 10 years while waiting for a donor.
Sally Johnson, director of Organ Donation and Transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "Educating and encouraging people to sign up for organ donation - that's what our partnership with Tinder is all about.
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"While a third of the UK population have registered their intention to donate on the NHS Organ Donor Register, millions more support donation but haven't taken the final step to sign up.
"Joining the register takes only a couple of minutes - about the same amount of time as a few swipes on Tinder."
Tinder's head of European communications, Hermione Way, added: "Tinder users regularly make the decision to swipe left or right wondering whether someone may be the person they are looking for.
"While those swiping decisions are important and could be the first step to a successful relationship, we hope that the NHS profiles featuring Jamie, Jade and Gemma will encourage people to make and act upon a different decision too - to sign up as an organ donor."
Picture credit: Tinder
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